The cause of tinnitus, a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears, is generally unclear. But one thing we know for sure is that if you have hearing loss your probability of developing tinnitus goes up. Up to 90 percent of individuals who suffer from tinnitus also have hearing loss according to HIAA.
Your lifestyle, age, and genetics can all take part in the development of hearing loss as you probably know. Often, moderate cases of hearing loss go unnoticed and hearing loss, in general, isn’t always evident. Even slight cases of hearing loss will increase your likelihood of tinnitus, making the situation even worse.
It’s Not a Cure, But Hearing Aids Can Help Manage Tinnitus
Tinnitus has no cure. However, hearing aids can treat both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can decrease symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. Sixty percent of people coping with tinnitus, in fact, saw relief of their symptoms, and twenty-two had significant improvement.
A traditional hearing aid can basically hide the buzzing or ringing associated with tinnitus by improving your ability to hear outside sounds, which basically drowns out the ringing. And, fortunately, traditional hearing aids aren’t the only solution as more advanced treatment possibilities are being produced.
Types of Specialty Hearing Aids to Lessen Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids work by gathering natural sounds from the environment around you and amplifying them to a level that lets you hear. This simple technology is critical in teaching your hearing to receive specific stimulation by amplifying sounds like the clattering of a ceiling fan or the rabble of a dinner party.
You can take an even more complete approach to your tinnitus management by augmenting hearing aids with other strategies, like stress reduction, sound stimulation, and counseling.
Some hearing aid makers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to reduce the symptoms of tinnitus. The consistent tone of tinnitus can be interrupted by the irregular tones of these inconsistent rhythms.
Other specialized devices try to blend your tinnitus in with the normal sounds you’re hearing. Your condition and ear have very personal needs and this strategy will use a personalized white noise that will be dialed-in by your hearing specialist.
All of these approaches, from white noise therapies to sound therapies, use specialized hearing aid technology to distract the attention of the user away from paying attention to tinnitus noises.
It’s true that there isn’t any cure for tinnitus, but for at least some people, hearing aids help decrease symptoms and improve your quality of life.
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References
- https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/HLAA_HearingLoss_Facts_Statistics.pdf?pdf=FactStats
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17956798
- https://www.ata.org/managing-your-tinnitus/treatment-options/hearing-aids
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6197965